'You're Not Playing A Statue': Zverev Confident Heading Into Nadal Clash

Sunday, 26 May 2024 at 17:30

byZachary Wimer

Alexander Zverev is confident ahead of the clash with Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Roland Garros, but he won't underestimate him.

The German knows very well how tough it is to play against the legendary Spaniard at Roland Garros because he played against him two years ago. It was a brutal match in which Zverev was amazing, but he was still losing, so he certainly won't be taking their first-round clash in 2024 easily.

Although Nadal is a legend at the tournament, many things point towards Zverev as the winner. His recent form has been generally better, as he won the Italian Open recently, collecting another ATP Masters 1000 trophy.

The 37-year-old is one of the most iconic players in history and has dominated on these courts for years, so it's pretty hard to go against him. Zverev admitted that ahead of the event, explaining that he expects great performance from Ndadal, even if he didn't look as strong recently.

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"You're not playing a statue, you play a person, this person is RafaelNadal. I'm expecting him to play at his absolute best. In 2022, he came as a big question mark and he happened to dominate the tournament. I expect him to be a big Rafael Nadal."

According to some, Nadal winning would be a shocking but possible outcome. The German was actually stunned when he heard the draw, but all 127 other players in the draw knew that there was a possibility of drawing the 14-time champion due to his unseeded status. He will play him, and he called it a bad draw for both of them.

"Ideally I would have liked to play him at a later stage of the tournament. But he did want to play Rafa again in his career. It's a bad draw for both of us."

— Zverev on facing Nadal<br>